Mayor Tim Keller announced recently the city is closing down Coronado Park to get rid of the homeless encampments that have overtaken the area.
Rhiannon Samuel, the executive director of the National Association for Industrial and Office Parks, said the decision will have a significant impact. “Closing down Coronado Park is monumental in the shift of what it means for that area," Samuel said.
In announcing the closing, Keller said the city can no longer tolerate “the status quo” when it comes to Coronado Park, adding “we must be open to new approaches.”
The park officially closes earlier this August. Meanwhile, city and civic officials vow to work with the homeless in Coronado Park to find workable solutions. Keeping the park open is not one of them, something Samuel applauds.
"This has been an ongoing issue, so we are pleased to see he's doing something about it," Samuel said.
Keller said there were several reasons for the closures: the safety of the people in the park, rampant narcotics use and trafficking, multiple stabbings and other violence, frequent thefts, sexual assaults, sex trafficking, extortion, and other continuing crime.
A KOAT story found that Albuquerque received more than 11,500 calls in the past year complaining about homeless encampments. APD reported in 2021 it responded to 651 incidents in the park. Out of the responses, 73 turned into a police report. To date in 2022, police have responded to 312 calls with 62 reports. In the last two years, there have been five homicides and 16 stabbings.
"It impacts the communities, neighborhoods, and businesses surrounding it," Samuel said of the continuing crime.
Keller also said the park needs to be cleaned and overgrown foliage either trimmed or pruned. “The condition of the park is getting to the point of no return,” Keller said. “If we don’t close the park now it will never be a park again.”
Upon closure, Keller said the city will entertain a variety of options to seek a solution. “We do not have the luxury of the perfect plan,” Keller said.
The homeless encamped in Coronado Park were not happy to hear the news. “This is our home,” one resident told KOAT. “This is where we live. This is how we grew up. People don't see this. We deal with mental illness day in and day out.”
Keller emphasized there are enough emergency beds in the community to shelter every person living in Coronado Park, estimated to be about 120 people.
Nearby Wells Park has a growing homeless community that will probably swell with the impending closing of Coronado Park. That is not good news for Geri Romero, who lives across from Wells Park.
"We live here, and we have to see it every day,” Romero told KOAT. “I didn't even want to look that way in the mornings."
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